A North Carolina man charged with killing his estranged wife and her 11-year-old son has entered an Alford plea to two counts of first-degree murder, two kidnapping charges and a robbery charge.
Curtis Lopez faces a possible sentence of life without parole after Friday's plea. His trial had been scheduled for Monday.
Lopez is an ex-convict who spent more than a decade in prison. He killed 51-year-old Jane McQuain inside her Germantown apartment in October 2011 and beat her son, William, to death with a baseball bat, authorities said. William's body was found in a wooded area a week after police discovered the body of his mother, who was stabbed and bludgeoned, authorities said.
"This man should never walk the streets again a free man," Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy said. "He deserves to die in jail."
Lopez was arrested at a North Carolina motel the day after Jane McQuain's body was found.
Police said after murdering Jane McQuain, Lopez took her Honda CRV and drove it to North Carolina. Lopez loaned the vehicle to his girlfriend in Charlotte, who was involved in an automobile accident that eventually led to his capture.
Prosecutors said that after McQuain inherited $80,000 from an uncle, Lopez, who McQuain married when he was in jail, plotted to cash in on her good fortune. He sought offers for her new TV, a Tiffany lamp and other items, News4's Derrick Ward reported. And he promised McQuain's car to his girlfriend.
The Alford plea means Lopez did not admit his guilt or involvement but did not want to risk what could happen at trial. He is scheduled for sentencing on April 17.
